Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Andrew Sotomayor

Who better to femulate than a makeup artist?

Andrew Sotomayor is a renowned celebrity makeup artist and his occasional femulations are spectacular. Two personal favorites are Maleficent and Bryce Dallas Howard’s character from Jurassic World.

I wish I had his makeup skills!

Andrew Sotomayor
Andrew Sotomayor as Maleficent
Andrew Sotomayor as Bryce Dallas Howard in Jurassic World (who runs through the jungle in heels)



Source: Etienne Aigner
Wearing Etienne Aigner



Rob Moran
Rob Moran femulates in the 2001 film Shallow Hal.

Monday, April 20, 2020

The Booth Babe

I will not make my annual trip to Ohio to attend Hamvention because it was cancelled due to the corona virus. To relieve my Hamvention withdrawl,  I am repeating the story of my first Hamvention trip as a woman back May 2010. I hope you enjoy it.



There is so much to write about my long weekend en femme, but, first, let me set the scene.

I am well-known in the world known as amateur radio or ham radio. My notoriety in that world is as a writer/author. For over 40 years, I have written for the leading ham radio organization in the USA.

During that time, I have written monthly columns for the their magazine, articles for their books, and complete books, one of which was a best seller, and currently, I write a weekly column for their web site.

I am also on the board of directors of another prominent organization that represents a sub-group (digital experimenters) in ham radio. I also serve as that organization's newsletter editor and secretary.

As a result, I am well known in the ham radio world; I was once told to my face that I am a “ham radio legend.”

Each May, the biggest ham radio convention in the world occurs in Dayton, Ohio. I attend most years as I did this past weekend. I usually moderate a forum at the convention and staff the booth of the digital experimenters’ organization.

I did not moderate a forum this year because I was undecided about attending at all and by the time I made up my mind to go, it was too late to volunteer as a moderator.

I came out to the other board members and officials of the digital experimenters’ organization as well as my editor and her supervisors at the national organization I write for. In addition to coming out, I informed them that I intended to attend Hamvention en femme.

Not a discouraging word was heard. In fact, I received much support and offers of assistance, if needed.

Wednesday and Thursday


My weekend started with an early departure on Wednesday. I “cheated” and did not dress en femme because I wanted to get on the road as early as possible and getting en femme would have put a two-hour dent in my departure.

I drove 400 miles to Bedford, PA, where I stayed overnight.

Thursday morning, I dressed en femme and checked out of the Quality Inn. The woman staffing the desk during check-out was different from the woman staffing the desk when I checked in, so there was no confusion about who was staying in my room.

I arrived at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Dayton about 2:15 PM. At check-in, the woman staffing the desk loved my top.

By the way, I registered at the hotel as “Stana” to add credibility to my femulation. (My credit card has only the initial “S” as my first name, which lets me get away with using “Stana” or any other “S” name I desire.)

In my room, I freshened up, changed from a top, leggings, and flats, to a black and white floral print dress and black patent platform slingback peep-toe pumps (see photo above left).

I took the elevator down to the lobby and visited the hotel’s bar. I perched myself on a bar stool, ordered a drink and relaxed before heading out to the board of director’s meeting.

The bartender treated me respectfully and I nursed my drink, but it was boring. There were two other customers talking about some ham radio convention and there was a hockey game on the television.

I left, fetched my car from valet parking and drove to the hotel uptown for the board meeting.

Entering the meeting room, I found two friends already there, who greeted me enthusiastically. As each of the other board members and officers showed up, they also greeted me as old friends even though I was sporting a “new look.”

The new board members were less enthusiastic because we were not old friends, but they were respectful and seemed accepting. Our accountant, who was not aware of my status, also was respectful and the waitstaff, who served our food referred to me as a female, so overall, the weekend started off on a very positive note.

The meeting ended and I was back in my room by 10 PM. I went to bed as soon as I could because I had to be up at 5 AM for my first day at the convention.

Friday and Saturday (Days)


Friday and Saturday, I spent most of those days staffing our booth and occasionally, I visited the other booths at the convention. Both days were similar and in my mind now it is hard to separate the two, so I will summarize the days together.

Males dominate ham radio. Females only represent about 15% of the US ham population. This demographic was clearly evident at Hamvention and attending the convention as a woman was a revelation.

For one thing, there were no lines at the restrooms. Also, the restrooms were pristine and the floors were dry even at the end of the day. (Attending the convention in the past as a male, I usually avoided the restrooms after mid-morning because they were disgusting.)

Another thing, I was the object of many a male’s attention. Staffing the booth or walking around the convention hall, strange men smiled at me, said “hello,” admired me from afar, etc., etc. It was amazing!

During the two days staffing the booth, I met six readers of this blog. Three informed me beforehand by e-mail that they would look for me at the convention; the other three just showed up at my booth and recognized me.

(Another reader e-mailed me saying that she thought she saw me walking near a specific set of booths around noon on Saturday. I confirmed that I was at those booths at that time and wish that she had stopped me to say “hello.”)

I am not aware of the comfort levels of the blog readers who met me at the convention, so I don't want to out them here by mentioning their names or worse, their ham radio call signs, but I want to thank them all for searching me out and giving me an opportunity to meet and girl-talk with them for awhile.

It was wonderful to meet and chat with the people I already knew, but it was also wonderful to meet and chat with people I did not know explaining the technologies displayed in our booth. I don't know if that qualifies me as a “booth babe,” but in all my years of staffing our booth, mine was the first appearance of a female form on the booth’s firing line. I wonder if that helped to attract visitors to our booth.

Friday Night


Friday night, our organization has a joint dinner with another experimenter’s organization, which usually attracts 100 to 200 attendees at a banquet hall south of Dayton. I have attended this dinner every year I have attended the convention, so I am familiar with many of the attendees, who also attend every year.

I wore my favorite dress du jour: the retro green dress (see photo above center). I accented the dress with a gold scarf, my simulated snakeskin platform slingback peep-toe pumps and a new matching simulated snakeskin bag. The hem of the dress is short, so I was showing more leg Friday night than I did the rest of the weekend. I thought I looked very nice.

I drove to the banquet hall, bought a drink, sat at a table up front, conversed with the other folks who sat at my table and tugged at the hem of my dress the whole time. I knew some of the folks at my table already and the others were new to me, but no one seemed to mind the new me.

The food was excellent as usual and I enjoyed the speaker, who is an old friend (we go back about 30 years).

Funny story... my speaker friend showed up at our booth early Friday morning and I made a point of saying “hello” to him. I thought I detected some confusion on his part and felt that I should have explained what was going on, but he was in a hurry to get to his booth.

I caught up with him before dinner and began to explain, but he interrupted me and said he knew exactly who I was and was very cool with it. The only thing he wanted to know was what name do I go by now.

That typified the whole weekend.

An aside: It was funny how some of my friends and acquaintances recognized me immediately despite my new look, whereas others were clueless as to my identity and we had to be re-introduced. Go figure.

Saturday Night


Saturday night, my plans were to attend the Contest Dinner, which is the big event for the ham radio contest community attending the convention. My editor, who is a big contester, had invited me to attend.

When I checked out the web page for the dinner, I noticed that most of the men in attendance were wearing jackets and ties, which was unusual for a ham radio affair.

There were no photos of females in attendance; I wondered what I should wear, so I asked my editor. She informed me that she always buys a new cocktail style dress to wear to that dinner.

Still unsure about what to wear, I sent her photos of some of my cocktail dresses. She loved the red dress I wore to my support group’s banquet back in March, so that is what I wore to the dinner along with some bling and my black patent platform slingback heels. I also sexed-up my makeup and hair and tried a new trick to accentuate my cleavage. In my humble opinion, I thought I came as close to achieving the term “hot” as I possibly could (see photo above left).

I took the hotel shuttle to the hotel hosting the dinner and climbed a grand circular staircase from the lobby up to the mezzanine level where the cocktail hour was in full swing. As I climbed the stairs, a sea of 200 to 300 males congregating in groups around the mezzanine appeared and suddenly it seemed as if they all turned their heads simultaneously to look at me! I smiled back at them and worked my way to the top of the staircase, where I discovered I was the only female attendee present at that point in time.

I am not very active in ham radio contests and did not recognize one face in the crowd. My editor had not yet arrived, so I was on my own.

A lot of guys were checking me out, but not one had the courage to speak to me, so I worked my way to the bar and ordered a drink. Then I worked my way back through the crowd looking for a familiar face, found none and decided to escape to the ladies’ room to regroup.

In the ladies’ room, I touched up my lipstick, took a deep breath, and went back out to the mezzanine. By then, the staff had opened the doors to the banquet room and people were filing in, so I joined them and found the table front and center that my editor had reserved. I chose a seat and sat down.

Eventually, the room filled up and my editor sat next to me. She introduced me as “Stana” to all the other people seated at our table. After my introduction, one of the guys at our table commented that he recognized my call sign, but the person he knew with that call sign looked very different. I dunno if he was being a wise guy or was actually confused.

The food and speakers were excellent and there was a mass quantity of door prizes. It seemed that 25% of the 432 folks in attendance won something, including me.

When they drew my ticket and announced my call sign as a winner of a ham magazine subscription, I came out en masse to all the hams at the dinner who recognized my call sign and happened to see me get up to pick up my prize. No one confronted me about the outing, so I assume it was not a big deal to anyone except me.

Overall


Overall, the weekend worked out great. Everyone I encountered accepted me one way or another.

All my friends and acquaintances were very ok with the new me.

The strangers who engaged me throughout the weekend, hams and civilians alike, accepted me as a woman, trans or otherwise.

I could not ask for anything more.




Source: Ann Taylor
Wearing Ann Taylor




Jonathan Tucker
Jonathan Tucker femulates in the 2000 film 100 Girls.

Friday, April 17, 2020

The civilians are next door

People are asking if the femulator in the photo accompanying my previous post is the girl who admitted that she was a civilian whose womanless event photo was one that I thought was too good to be simply civilian!

The answer is, “No.”

The femulator who was the subject of my previous post has asked to remain anonymous and I will never reveal who she.

👠👠👠

Jonie asked, “Where can I find a list of womanless fashion shows and pageants?”

I am not aware of such a list.

One way I learn about such events is to set up a Google Alert to automatically send me emails whenever there is new Internet content that includes the word “womanless.”

👠👠👠

By the way, I have thousands of womanless event images on flickr for your viewing enjoyment. Most of them were culled from online high school yearbooks by my friend Starla and the collection is quite diverse.




Source: Madeleine
Wearing Madeleine




Michal Rudas
Michal Rudas femulates Shania Twain singing “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” on Polish television’s Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo. You can view the video here.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Where have all the civilians gone?

Over 11 years ago, I used the word “civilian” here for the first time to differentiate the femulating community from the non-femulating community, that is, the civilian population.

Occasionally, femulating does occur in the non-femulating community, for example, when boys dress like girls to participate in womanless beauty pageants, womanless fashion shows, womanless weddings, womanless fishing tournaments or just to dress pretty for Halloween.

Less frequently, some of the civilians femulate so convincingly that it makes me wonder if they are one of us rather than a civilian. Their outfits are perfect, their makeup is perfect, their hairdos are perfect and they know how to walk perfectly in high heels with perfectly shaved legs.

Over the years, I probably posted hundreds of photos of civilians who I thought looked too good to be simply civilian, but I was never able to confirm my thoughts.

Until now!

Out of the blue Monday, I received an email from a reader who admitted she was one of the civilians whose womanless event photo I posted here as someone I thought was too good to be simply a civilian!

She sent along some recent photos and she is absolutely gorgeous. She certainly is not a civilian!    




Source: Venus
Wearing Venus




Jackie Maye
Professional femulator Jackie Maye, circa 1955

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Ideal

Meds are working and the thrush is going away slowly.

Started eating “normally” again. Last night I had tuna on rye with some potato chips on the side, but I could not eat the chips because they are too “hard” and irritated the thrush lesions. Had a slice of homemade Easter babka that my sister baked using my Mom’s recipe – it was delicious. Washed it all down with a glass of milk.

Had my first cup of coffee in over a week this morning with a stack of pancakes and maple syrup. Until now, hot drink was an irritant, too. Missed my coffee, so I am glad to be able to drink it again.

Lost another pound on the scale this morning. I am now at my lowest weight as an adult. Probably have not weighed this little since grade school. I am now at the “ideal” weight for a woman my height (not to mention a male), so I would like to maintain this weight after this all blows over.

Yesterday, I tried on a couple of recent purchases without any foundation garments and they looked very nice on me. I can’t wait to get dressed full femme and photoshoot all my new outfits, but that will have to wait until the lesions on my face circling my mouth heal.

And so it goes.




Source: Boston Proper
Wearing Boston Proper




Toma Ikuta
Toma Ikuta femulating the 2011 Japanese stage production of Madame de Sade

Monday, April 13, 2020

Thrush Diet – Lose 10 Pounds in a Week!


Needless to say, I was relieved to learn the result of the coronavirus test was negative. I want to again thank you all for your well wishes, prayers and support.

Last week was miserable. It all started Monday. In the afternoon, I noticed two small lesions on my tongue. Monday evening, my body temperature was warmer than usual.

By Tuesday, my body temperature was hovering around 100℉ with occasional jumps up as high as 102.7℉. My temperature remained high for two days. Meanwhile, the lesions in my mouth multiplied and it was painful to eat or drink as almost anything I ingested irritated the lesions.

Thursday morning, my body temperature was back down to normal and has remained that way ever since, however, the lesion problem grew worse.

With no improvements overnight, I called my doctor Friday morning. He insisted that due to my age and my recent bout with high body temperature that I get tested for coronavirus.

That was depressing!

I drove to his office and a staff member brought the prescription out to my car. Then I drove to St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury and got in queue for their drive-through coronavirus test.

There were only six cars ahead of me and I was in and out in less than a half hour.

I went home and waited for the results and they were posted online mid-morning Sunday.

Monday morning, the doctor’s office called to repeat the good news and to get me a prescription for my mouth problem. I picked up the prescription and will be sucking down 70 clotrimazole lozenges over the next 14 days.

I have thrush, a fungal infection! I have no idea how I got it. None of the possible causes make sense. But it is nasty and prevented me from eating and drinking normally. As a result, I lost 10 pounds in 7 days!




Source: Cynthia Rowley
Wearing Cynthia Rowley




Harry Ritz femulates Alice Faye in the 1937 film On The Avenue. You can view the femulation on YouTube.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

What’s Newest!

Received very good news this morning: I don't have coronavirus!

Thank you all for your well wishes and support.

(Big sigh of relief!)

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Someday Funnies






Source: Ann Taylor
Wearing Ann Taylor




Bruce Davison femulates in a 1985 episode of television’s Alfred Hitchcock Presents. You can view the episode on the dailymotion. Thanks to Aunty Marlena for informing me about this femulation. 

Friday, April 10, 2020

What’s Newer

This morning, I had an online video examination by my primary care doctor.

He concluded that I had symptoms of coronavirus and needed to be tested.

I drove to his office and one of the staff came out to my car and handed me a prescription for the test. Next I drove to a hospital in Waterbury and got in line for their mobile corona virus test (conducted inside their parking garage).

Only six cars ahead of me, so it did not take long. I never had to get out of the car, but that test swab up the nose is nasty.

Expect test results in 24 to 72 hours, but I probably won't hear anything until Monday because my doctor's office is closed over the weekend.

(Lots of unprintable expletives under my breath!)

Thursday, April 9, 2020

What’s New

This will be short and sweet.

My body temperature started going up Monday evening. During the next two days, it fluctuated between 100℉ and 102.5℉.

Tylenol is my friend and I awoke Thursday morning back to normal... 98.6 ℉ degrees.

I had no other symptoms of the coronavirus, but I was worried nonetheless.

I am wiped out by the experience and plan to take a break for a day or two.

And so it goes.

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

My Trans Days of Visibility

Diana wrote this about Trans Day of Visibility (TDoV), “For those of us who have transitioned it really doesn’t make too much sense, for us everyday is a TDoV. For those who crossdress what are they supposed to do, get dressed up and walk up and down the a street?”

Well, yeah.

I never walked up and down the street on TDoV. In fact, I don’t recall dressing pretty at all on the official TDoV. My TDoV occurred on October 31, when I crossdressed as authentically as possible and went to work. 

First two times I did it (in 2000 and 2003), the office was having costume contests, so I had a legitimate excuse. Then I did five years in a row (2012-2016) without a safety net, that is, there were no costume contests.

What was I thinking?

First time, I encountered knowing smiles from a couple of my female co-workers as well as comments from other co-workers hinting that I looked too good for a one-shot female impersonation. So right from the get-go, I realized that I was outing myself, but I did not care. In fact, I was very open about it. 

More than once, co-workers asked, “Who did your makeup?” I could have said my wife or daughter, but instead, I admitted that I did my own makeup. 

One time, my pantyhose developed a run and I halted its progress by applying some clear nail polish to the run. When I mentioned it to the woman in the next cubicle, she remarked, “How did you know to do that?”

After my fourth or fifth on-the-job femulation, my wife commented, “Don’t your co-workers suspect something?” I figured my co-workers were idiots if they did not have some suspicions and that was confirmed when I finally came out to my boss and she responded, “I'm not surprised.” 

And it was probably not a surprise to my other co-workers. After retirement, I was invited back to the company Christmas party and no one blinked when I showed up en femme. They socialized with me as if everything was normal — Stan is in drag again — nothing to see here. 

So my Trans Days of Visibility were an unmitigated success.




Source: New York & Company
Wearing New York & Company




Sadri Alisik and Yusuf Sezgin femulating in the 1970 film Fistik Gibi, a remake of the 1964 film Fistik Gibi Masallahthe Turkish version of Some Like It Hot. You can view both films on YouTube — the 1964 version and the 1970 remake.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Honey

Nine West Bliss Pointy Toe Pump
in metallic paint snake print
I shop online a lot. Not just for clothes for milady, but for just about everything else.

When I pay up, I always look for a coupon code (via Google) to save money. Sometimes I am successful, but most of the time, I am not. Then along came Honey.

Honey is an app that works with your web browser. Whenever you are ready to pay up, Honey interrupts the transaction and automatically searches for any applicable coupon codes. It invariably finds free shipping and usually finds other applicable coupon savings, too.

For example, I had my eye on a pair of heels (photo above) that Nine West was selling for $89. I checked the website everyday hoping that the heels would go on sale and Sunday morning, they were on sale for $49 (plus shipping and sales tax). That was good enough for me, so I added a pair to my shopping cart and proceeded to check out. Honey kicked in, did its thing and saved me $15.68! Instead of $89 plus shipping and sales tax or $49 plus shipping and sales tax, the heels only cost me $42.88 total!

I was a very happy shopper and I recommend Honey to everyone who shops online. Click on this link to accept my invitation to join Honey and you will be able to save money online, too.




Source: Moda Operandi
Wearing Agua




Pretty Artur Chamski femulates Helena Vondrackova on Polish television’s Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo (Your Face Sounds Familiar). You can view the video on YouTube.